Meet the brewers

Get a taste of home and craft brewing at the Allentown Brew Works on Saturday

November 04, 2009|By Diane Stoneback OF THE MORNING CALL

If you're a serious beer drinker, the Allentown Brew Works Craft Beer Festival is where you want to be Saturday.

It's a festival with learning opportunities that go beyond just lining up for one beer sample after another. With any luck, you'll learn enough to find the style of craft beer you like. And you might even discover a hobby -- making beer at home!

The indoor event is designed with beer lovers in mind. In addition to being staged in a working brewery, at least five home brewers will stage a beer-making demonstration delivering the "bready" aromas of grains steeping and boiling in water.

Representatives of four of seven Pennsylvania breweries that won medals in the 2009 Great American Beer Festival will be among those offering samples. They are Erie Brewing Co., Troegs Brewing Co., Stoudt Brewing Co. and Allentown Brew Works.

They and representatives of 13 other participating breweries (including Weyerbacher, Sly Fox, Cricket, Yard's, Barley Creek and Brooklyn Brewery) will help match festival-goers' tastes with the brews that are being sampled.

"We want to make sure participants find a style of beer they like, and hopefully, convert them to exploring craft beers rather than continuing to drink the "big boys' of brewing," says Michael Fegley, whose family owns and operates the Allentown and Bethlehem Brew Works.

"Maybe they'll taste a pumpkin beer or a Belgian double and realize that's what they really like. Then they can go from brewer to brewer and taste more beers in these same styles."

Fegley says an effort has been made to ensure that people passing out samples will be brewery representatives who know all there is to know about their products. In some cases, actual brewers will be on hand.

"They'll be able to explain what makes a particular beer robust or bitter. They will describe exactly what you'll taste when you experience the different levels of a beer's flavor," Fegley says.

He adds, "The key is finding the kinds of beers they already enjoy and then sending them off to explore the craft beers that'll appeal to them."

In addition to the two-session Craft Beer Festival ($25 in advance or $35 at the door), members of the Lehigh Valley Homebrewers will take over the Brew Works Biergarten for their largest-ever beer making demonstration. It's free and will be presented 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

"We want to show people how easy it is to make their own beers for home consumption," says Scott Minnich, treasurer of the homebrewers' organization.

Bob Piano, the organization's president, reports he'll make an American Red style beer during the demonstration in the biergarten. He adds, "We're expecting at least five guys to show up with their portable breweries. It'll give visitors the chance to see how simple or elaborate home-brewing setups can be."

And visitors will get to taste the top six winners of a recent "keg only" competition among home brewers.

"We can't sell what we make, but we can give it away," Minnich says.

Among their samples will be a Belgian triple and an American pale ale.

"Anything goes when we're brewing," says Minnich. "Sometimes we'll trade recipes or try to duplicate the taste of a well-known craft beer. One of our members even made a beer that tasted like peanut butter and jelly on wheat. It was unique because you got the three flavors in stages."

But there will be failures along with successes. "We all know there will be some attempts that wind up being poured out in the garden because they're not drinkable."

Participants in the first session of the Craft Brew Festival can stop in before the event starts at noon and then drop in periodically to check on stages of the process.

"We're starting at 11 a.m. when the grains are added to water and become mash. Then the mixture is boiled in brew kettles. Next, hops and yeast will be added. At the end of the demo, the "wort' will be done.

"Although there won't be any alcohol present at that point, we'll be bottling and drinking the finished beers by Christmas," Minnich says.

Participants in the second session of the Craft Brew Festival are welcome to arrive early to watch the home brewers at work in the biergarten.

According to Minnich, home brewers generally make five-gallon batches at a time, compared to 250 gallon batches or more at craft breweries.

Beau Baden, the Brew Works' brewmaster, says, "Over the last 10 years, the quality of craft beers has really gone up. We've got world-class beers being made in Pennsylvania and that makes all of us work very hard to keep up with each other."

In addition to the sampling on the Brew Works' second and third floors, there will food offerings including ham, breads, chicken wings and desserts featuring Dove chocolate.

Fegley adds, "We're also offering $10 designated-driver tickets."

Finally, there'll be a cigar lounge on the patio and an assortment of vendors offering beer souvenirs, from T-shirts to bottle openers.